Life of David Gale Wiki
Welcome to the Life of David Gale Wiki Life of David Gale - A movie analysis Resumé The movie sets off on a deserted road in Texas with a blonde woman (Bitsey Bloom) getting out af a broken car. She starts running hysterically into a redneck community where a cowboy passes her in a pickup truck. The atmosphere is very intense and dramatic, which is partly caused by the in medias res intro. This intro turns out to be a flashforward to one of the last scenes of the movie. After the intro scene we are introduced to Bitsey Bloom (see characters below), a journalist who gets the opportunity to make a three day-interview with death row sentenced David Gale (see characters below), who allegedly raped and murdered his friend and colleague Constance Harraway. Gale and Harraway worked together in DeathWatch, a movement against capital punishment. Together with an intern, Bloom visits the prison in which Gale is sitting on death row. The intern is turned away, because Gale only wishes to speak with Bloom. David Gale tells his story through three interviews conducted over three days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and his execution is set for Friday afternoon. During these interviews Bloom learns that Gale might be innocent and she begins a research with the intern. They investigate Gale's past and the rape and murder of Harraway. It turns out that Gale has been falsely accused for raping a former student of his, which caused a expulsion from the university of which he was a professor. Furthermore, it turns out that Harraway is suffering from leukaemia and is set to die within months. During these investigations Bloom and the intern cross paths with a cowboy, who turns out to be Dusty Wright, a former activist of the DeathWatch, Harraway and Gale's anti-death penalty movement. Wright seems to be involved somehow, a involvement which include a video tape of the murder. This video tape reveals the truth of the murder, which turns out to be (spoiler alert) a well-planned scheem to prove a point. David Gale, Constance Harraway and Dusty Wright organized and executed the suicide of Harraway and made it look like rape and murder displaying Gale as the prime suspect. This scheem was constructed to statuate an example of an innocent man being put to death for a murder he did not commit. Characters David Gale Respe cted teacher. Considered very intelligent, but is too eager to fight for his cause. His ego takes over (example: debate with the senator). He has a wife and a little boy with whom he lives in a decent home. Few close friends. Runs the DeathWatch with his good friend and colleague Constance Harraway. DeathWatch is a movement against capital punishment. All in all a very respected, intelligent and good man. After he gets excluded from the University, due to an accusation of rape, he becomes an alcoholic and his entire life spins out of control. Bitsey Bloom Blond. Attracting. Known for not revealing her sources even though it’s got to do with serious crimes. Has recently been to jail for refusing to reveil her sources in court. Bitsey Bloom is willing to go a long way to help the condemned and is very selfconfident. Issues concerning death penalty In the movie a few issues regarding the fairness of the death penalty are raised. Through the work of Constance and Gale in the Deathwatch we more than once hear that race plays a big role in deciding whether to execute the sentenced or not. It is clear from the cases they work with, that more blacks get sentenced to death row. It is also stated in movie that it is more of a crime to kill a white man than it is killing a black man. In one particular scene from the movie Constance is working on saving a young girl from the death row. She has been sentenced to death after killing a cop. Although Constance is doing her best to save the girl she must soon realize that there is no way out for a sentenced who has killed an authority. This is an obvious criticism of the society and the unevenness within society. The last big issue that is presented regarding the death penalty is concerning the lawyers. First of all a lawyers job is to free the condemned from execution, but in this movie Gales’ personal lawyer helps him by making him stay on the death row. Furthermore, the lawyers’ qualities depend on the victim’s income. If the convicted has not got a lot of money, they simply cannot afford a qualified lawyer. Therefore the trials can end up as huge disasters – this is from the director’s point of view, a clear criticism of the American system of justice. Is the movie realistic? Throughout recent history there have been quite a few cases both where executed people later have been proven innocent, but also where people have been proven innocent before a pending execution. According to wikipedia (Wrongful execution ) about 15 deathrow inmates have been exonerated due to new DNA evidence in the U.S. since 1992. Furthermore, 39 executions are believed to have been carried out in spite of serious doubt about guilt. Some of the most famous cases in the U.S. includes: Cameron Todd Willingham, Johnny Garret, Jesse Tafero and Carlos DeLuna. China is one of the countries on earth who executes most people. Although it isn't known how many executions have been wrongfully conudcted, there are a few well known examples. One of these examples include the chinese citizen Wei Qingang who was executed for the rape of Liu. In the following month of the execution, a man named Tian Yuxiu committed to the rape. Approximatley three years later Qingang was declared innocent. So is the movie realistic? Yes, the movie is quite realistic as there are numerous examples of wrongfull convictions and executions of innocent people. 'They see a crime' In the movie David Gale and Bitsey Bloom have a conversation through a jail glass: [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000228/?ref_=tt_trv_qu David Gale]: How do we start? [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000701/?ref_=tt_trv_qu Bitsey Bloom]: We start with... you telling me what I'm doing here. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000228/?ref_=tt_trv_qu David Gale]: No one who looks through that glass sees a person. They see a crime. I'm not David Gale. I'm a murderer and a rapist... four days shy of his execution. These lines tell us quite alot about the movie and it's theme(s). David Gale says that he is not himself anymore - he has become a crime, a murderer and a rapist, and therefore he has become some kind of symbol of evil. This is the way other people view him because he has been convicted with a felony - they don't stop to think that he could be reformed, or that he maybe even could be innocent. People are filled with an rancour detestation towards convicted felons, which completely overshadows the sanctity of fair trials and convictions based on evidence and rationality rather than emotions. This could more or less be what David Gale indirectly indicates in this conversation. Theme “The Life of David Gale” contains a political theme, the death penalty. The most important message is that an innocent man accidentally can be punished and die because of the system of justices carelessness. Another theme is self-sacrificing. David Gale sacrifices his own life to prove that death penalty is wrong. In the end of the movie it takes an unforeseen turn. The ending is about miscarriage of justice, again a political theme. Category:Browse Category:Is it realistic? Examples from real life